Ninth District Congressman Doug Collins says President Trump's declaration of a national emergency Friday over border security is a "serious act with deep implications" while adding that Trump is within his rights in doing so.
“The crisis at our southern border demands immediate action, and I support President Trump’s commitment to securing our border and protecting our citizens," Collins said in a statement issued by his office Friday afternoon. "Declaring a national emergency is a serious act with deep implications, and it’s disappointing that partisan politics have brought us to this point."
The Gainesville Republican, who is the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, added: "In acknowledging this, we also recognize the president possesses full legal authority to declare this emergency and he is not alone in his commitment to keeping Americans and migrants safe."
Collins called on Congress to also take action to address the "crisis" that continues to endanger Americans and dismantle families by fixing loopholes in the law that encourage people to take dangerous, illegal paths into the U.S.
But the American Civil Liberties Union and Democrats who control the Judiciary Committee take another view of the President's actions.
The ACLU announced its intention to sue less than an hour after the White House released the text of Trump's declaration that the "current situation at the southern border presents a border security and humanitarian crisis that threatens core national security interests and constitutes a national emergency." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and several Democratic state attorneys general already have said they might go to court.
Democrats on the Judiciary Committee said Friday they are launching an investigation into the President's action and asked him to make available to the committee those officials involved in the action from both the White House and the Justice Department.
(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)
